Tuesday, September 02, 2008

Well that hurt a little.

Brady and I met up for a Labor day ride. After a quick cup of joe, we headed downtown then on to the Bellevue Blvd loop. We were hoping to save money by crossing the river at the South Omaha Bridge, but it is still under construction. So we rode through Bellevue with a destination of Glennwood, IA. After we made polite conversation with the bridge trolls(ok, that was mean, they were nice old ladies), we started to hit it hard on the highway in Iowa. We had a cross wind so we took turns on the front. Brady must have been feeling great because his pulls were always a little longer and a little faster than mine. His strength also became apparent on that climb toward Glennwood. I tried to keep pace, but I fell off a couple times. Then, either he'd sit up, or I'd recover a little only for me to pull through and go red-lining again. Not smart.

We crested the climb and maintained a quickish pace into Glennwood. I realized, at 1.5 hours into the ride, that I had only drank about half a bottle's worth of water. Oops. I didn't feel dehydrated. In fact, aside from running out of oomph on the climb, I was feeling pretty good. At the Glennwood convenient store stop, I downed a coke, a Nutrigrain bar, and some of Brady's Nut Roll then we were off. Word of warning to anyone doing the Glennwood loop; the road heading South West out of town is under construction. The bridge is gone, and the side road that we usually take to get to Pacific Junction, was heavily quartered off. Brady and I cyclocrossed our way around all the construction and were off again. I was all for taking it easy with the tailwind, but Brady was feeling his steel-cut oats apparently. We eventually got back to the Bellevue Bridge after some really hard work. We bipped over to the Keystone trail via 370 to 25th st. Another word of warning: they recently redid that bridge on 25th st which is good, but they completely blocked any sort direct path to the trail. So you have to stop, get off your bike, hop a guardrail, then get on the trail. I feel like emailing someone about this because it's horribly inconvenient to cyclists to have the route blocked, but more importantly it also takes away an entry point for emergency and maintenance vehicles onto the trail. Not cool.

Anyway, after the ride, I was feeling the effects of not hydrating properly. My legs started cramping up...BAD. I took a mini-nap and when I got up and walked down the stairs, I almost fell over. My muscles actually seemed to seize up. And this was even after drinking a tall glass of chocolate milk and eating cottage cheese and apple sauce. I guess since I hadn't really worked my legs in 4 days, they weren't ready for the hammer session. Oh well.

With regard to the cold I had, I'm questioning if it was a cold or some really bad allergies. On Friday, it felt like a real cold since I could barely wake up in the morning and slept most of the day after leaving work early. But now I'm sneezing a bunch and experiencing Bryan's symptoms of needing to blow my nose a bunch. So maybe I am growing into some allergies? I sure hope not, but it's entirely possible. I think I will lay off the intensity for a while anyway just to see if this stuff will go away.

8 comments:

bryan said...

On the blockades ... yeah, I meant to mention that. It was pretty easy to get around the stuff on the way to Pacific Junction. I was worried about having to hit the hills again to get back. That would have sucked a bit. The guardrail on 25th is just dumb.

Allergies ... here's the test: are your eyes gunky? If it feels like there's something stuck in there, and you're rubbing them a lot, it's allergies. Get some Target brand Claritin, the 24-hour stuff, and some nasal spray. I hit the nasal spray right when I get up, and especially after coming in from outside. The whole setup might cost 8 bucks. Good luck.

munsoned said...

Well the eye gunk thing is kind of always there for me. I have too much oil in my tears so my eyes are always a little red and itchy. Just acknowledging the idea that I have eyes that can itch, in fact, makes them itch. They've been that way as long as I can remember. However, it has not gotten worse though, so maybe I just have a head cold. Either way, it sucks.

brady said...

It was a good ride, Munson, especially considering it sounded like you were hacking out a lung. I was afraid I'd look back and see what appeared to be a hoover sweeper bag protruding from your mouth.

Anyway, like Bryan said, get some knock off Claritin and nose spray. I've been taking Walatin's (Walgreens?Walmart?) 10mg loratadine daily throughout the summer and haven't had any of the symptoms experienced by you and many others. Of course, everyone is different and while I'm not benefiting monetarily from this rogue product endorsement, it works for me. I used to be miserable during this time of the year and could easily relate to Bryan's post about being allergic to everything is this picture.

Flanders said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Flanders said...

Mike the bridge is usable for cyclists. Been across it a few time this weekend. CB is also building a bike path from the bridge to Wabash Ave. ( Hwy 275 to Glenwood ). Until then the shoulder is pretty nice except for 4 or 5 blocks where they are still working on it.
I can't wait till the Plattsmouth bridge is done so we can ride a loop again.
Jim

Shim said...

Dude, and I quote' "I ate some of Brady's Nut Roll and then we were off".

That's just wrong in so many ways.

munsoned said...

Shim, I was waiting for someone to mention that. I realized as I typed, how bad it sounded. Thanks for pointing that out to everyone else. Seriously. Thanks.

Jim, do you mean the South Omaha Bridge? The road on the Omaha side seemed kinda, uh, not there when we rode by it on Monday. Did you have to go extreme cyclocrossing to get across?

Brady, I really don't think I have allergies. Or if I do, they're pretty minor. Plus, from what I've heard from some people who take anti-allergy stuff, the medicine can be pretty bad also. So I have just a little stuffiness, I sneeze sometimes, and my nose leaks. I think I'll survive, but I'll just take it easy for a week or so. Aaron mentioned to Bryan in that post that he takes a bunch of B12, I might give that a whirl. I'm not Tom Cruise crazy where I think the drug companies are out to get me. But usually I just let the problem work itself out, or try to take care of it in more natural ways. Chicken noodle soup, OJ, and sleep instead of a bombardment of Day/Nightquil when I get flu-like sick. Just my personal preference. Hopefully it doesn't kill me one day.

Shim said...

Jim, Steve and I rode across the South O bridge on Monday.